Canada to U.S.: Build Keystone already

By Claudia Assis

Increasingly frustrated with the controversy blocking construction of TransCanada Corp.
/quotes/zigman/27155/quotes/nls/trpTRP proposed Keystone XL pipeline, Canadian government and business officials took the podium at a industry conference in New York this week to send a blunt message that the line should be built without further delay.

One of such messengers was former Conservative cabinet minister Jim Prentice, who said the oil pipeline is in the U.S. “national interest.” The Canadian oil sands are “an essential part” of the North American energy marketplace as the region accelerates toward energy independence, he said, according to a report on CBC’s website.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday most of the oil flowing through the line would likely end up being exported as refined products, further stirring the debate around Keystone XL.

For the many opponents of the pipeline, that would undercut the argument the Canadian oil arriving through Keystone would boost energy security, replacing supplies from unstable areas.

A report released Thursday by nonprofit advocacy group Oil Change International said U.S. Gulf Coast refineries already export 60% of the gasoline they produce. “These are the refineries that would process the majority of the tar sands bitumen flowing through the Keystone XL pipeline, if it were built.”

There’s no dearth of controversy about Keystone. Here’s one another recent tidbit: President Barack Obama told House Republicans on Wednesday that the number of jobs and other benefits Keystone supporters claim the line would bring are likely exaggerated, the Associated Press reported, citing unnamed lawmakers who attended the closed-door meeting.

Earlier this month, the State Department issued a draft environmental assessment of the line, finding few problems with it.

State Department involvement is needed because Keystone XL would straddle the U.S. and Canada’s border. A decision by the Obama administration on whether to allow construction of the line is expected for later this year.

Keystone was proposed in 2008, and re-routed last year in response to concerns it would cut through environmentally sensitive areas in Nebraska. The re-routing did little to appease environmentalists.

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